All The Wrong Signs

Riley’s POV

I woke up to pitch black.

My brain was still foggy, but I knew without a doubt in my mind that I was in danger. Where was I? How did I get here?

It wasn’t until I tried to sit up that I realized I had shackles attached to my wrist. Pulling at them, I winced at the sound of metal hitting metal. If anyone still thought I was asleep, they would know better now.

Lifting my hands to my mouth, I felt the rough material that had been tied around my face to keep me quiet. Whoever had me didn’t want to risk me calling out to Blaze. Closing my eyes, I tried my best to channel him. He could feel me. He would come for me.

It was impossible for me to determine the duration of my silent attempts to call for him before I gave up. Where was he? Had he been captured too?

Once again, I tried to pull at the chains that held me in place but they didn’t budge, not even an inch. This wasn’t happening.

Taking a deep breath to calm myself down, I tried to remember how I got here. I remembered talking to Lakyn. I had stayed with her for a little over an hour before I decided to head back home. Closing my eyes, I tried to picture myself walking home, but something didn’t feel right.

Coffee.

I had stopped for coffee. I remembered I had thought it odd that the shop only had two people inside. Opening my eyes, I thought back to how I had thought they were acting weird, but I had made up excuses in my head.

Something had been wrong. I had known it. Why hadn’t I walked out?

The coffee had been good, but there had been something off about it. I had assumed it was the white chocolate, or maybe the fact that I had gotten the coffee hot and not cold.

Falling. I remembered falling. Then nothing.

Nothing but the dark.

I still had a slight headache. Whatever had been in that coffee had knocked me out. Or maybe it was magic? Had Lakyn followed me and poisoned me? Was it Collin?

Tears ran from my eyes at the realization that if Blaze hadn’t popped up by now, he wouldn’t. Please let him be ok, I thought.

Would he be worried when I didn’t show back up? He knew I had gone to Lakyn’s. He would instantly accuse her of doing something to me.

Hearing a clanking noise, I looked up, having to close my eyes as a door opened and bright light came streaming in. The man standing in the doorway had a brown cloak with the hood pulled up.

Kyler.

I don’t know how I knew it was him. I just did. It had to be. I moved back as far as I could, but the space I was being kept in was more like a closet than a room.

“Awake I see. We have little time left before we land.”

Land? Were we on a plane? I looked up, trying to listen, but I couldn’t hear anything but the beating of my heart.

The man walked in, taking my wrist and unlocking the shackles. “I will let you use the bathroom, but if you try anything funny, I won’t hesitate to slit your throat.”

I could only nod at him as he yanked me up by my arms and pushed me out of the door. The bathroom was much like any airplane bathroom, small and cramped. When I tried to reach out and shut the door, the man shook his head. “I think not, witch.”

I swallowed, but the need to pee had hit now that I was up and walking around. I took my time washing my hands, knowing that when I was done, I would be put in the closet again.

When I walked out, the man had a dagger pointed at me. “I’m going to take your gag off so that you can get a drink. If you even try to summon that demon to you here and now, it will be the last thing you do. Understood?”

Nodding, I closed my eyes as he walked closer to me, undoing the fastens behind my head. I winced as he pulled my hair as he yanked the bindings free.

Water had never tasted so good. My mouth felt like sandpaper. No matter how much I drank, I felt like I couldn’t get enough. I downed an entire bottle of water faster than I had ever drank anything in my life.

Pulling the bottom from my lips, I looked at the man. “Kyler?”

The man smiled, “so the demon has been talking about me has he?” Taking a bow, he stood up straight looking down at me. “Let me introduce myself. Kyler Wumbert. And I do believe you have stolen something that belongs to me.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” It occurred to me in that second that I had fucked up saying his name. Now he would know without a doubt that it was indeed Blaze that I had summoned unintentionally.

“Oh, I’m sure once we are back in Wales, I can refresh your memory.”

Wales? He was taking me to Wales? Would he take me to the same place he had imprisoned Blaze?

Kyler watched me, observing me, but I refused to show him any weakness. Instead, my mind was already plotting. If Kyler took me to the same place he kept Blaze imprisoned, then maybe I could find a way to break his seal or possibly even find the book.

Should I pretend to work with Kyler? Befriend him?

Did I even have that I me? I was a horrible liar. My face betrayed my true emotions every single time. Kyler knelt back down beside me, putting the gag pack in my mouth. I tried to fight him, but he didn’t hesitate to punch me in my stomach to make me cooperate.

With Kyler so close to me, I studied him. His brown hair hit him around his shoulders, and his mustache looked like it was a teenage boys who just started growing hair. I had expected to see some type of family resemblance between him and Lakyn’s grandmother. There was none.

“We still have about 5 hours. I suggest you try to get all the sleep you can.” Kyler walked out, leaving me once again in the darkness.

It had been easier to be brave in the light. The darkness seemed to wrap around me, smothering any hope I had managed to hold on to.

Closing my eyes, I tried to remember that Blaze was darkness. Demons were darkness.

It didn’t work. Blaze represented comfort and protection for me. The cold dark offered none of those things.

My head was still throbbing a little, so I laid back down, curling into a fetal position. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to imagine what Blaze was doing. Had he noticed I was gone yet? Would he panic? I knew for sure he would be pissed. I smiled despite the circumstances, picturing Petra trying to calm him down and make him see reasoning.

When Blaze was mad, his emotions controlled him. Petra had seemed to be his voice of reasoning. I wondered what he was like before his imprisonment. Petra had told me she had been a young girl, so who calmed his storm before?

Time seemed to stand still. How long did it take to fly to Wales? Hours? Days? I had no idea. I had always assumed that Kyler was some weirdo living in his mother’s basement, but this plane let me know I was wrong. They had resources. They had connections.

One thing was clear: I was going to have to fight my way out of this one. Kyler wasn’t stupid. The only advantage I had was that Kyler couldn’t know that Blaze and I were bonded. No one knew. No one but Petra.

Blaze would find me. He just had to. I had a feeling Kyler was blocking our connection without even realizing how strong our connection was. Just one slip up was all I needed.

I’d be patient and wait for him to slip up. I had no other choice.